A Charmed Life 2
by LovemyPadfootMarauder
Summary: Caleb Danvers is in for a surprise when he meets new student at Spencer, Chloe Halliwell. She's come from San Francisco to break a curse on the Covenant set by her own ancestor Melinda Warren. It's a curse only she can break, and only with Caleb's help. Will she break the curse before it's too late or will Chase ruin any chance she has.
1. Chapter 1

Drunk high school parties were not Chloe's idea of a good time, yet here she was. Bonfires, Djs and at least a hundred drunk teenagers dancing on the grass out at the Dells was enough to make Chloe crave a mug of hot chocolate and her bed. Even though she wanted to leave she was here for a reason, her new roommate Kate had promised to introduce Chloe to her boyfriend and his friends. Now usually Chloe wouldn't be so desperate to meet guys but this was a special circumstance. Kate had told her that Pogue, Kate's boyfriend, and his three friends were nicknamed the Sons of Ipswich. If these boys really were the Sons of Ipswich then Chloe's searching was over.

"Come on slow poke!" Kate nudged Chloe in the side with her elbow, "The boys should be here any minute."

"Great!" Chloe replied with a teasing grin as she followed Kate over towards the DJ stand, "Maybe when we see him you'll stop moaning about missing him!"

Her new friend gasped in mock outrage, "You brat!"

Chloe couldn't help but laugh at the other girl. A strange feeling caused Chloe to look up at the cliffs that rose over the party and she thought she could make out figures standing on the edge. She was forced to look away when Kate pulled her arm and shoved a plastic cup into her hand, she protested and passed the drink off to the closest person. "I don't drink."

Kate rolled her eyes, "Ok buzzkill. I'll get you soon," she teased.

"Oh, I'm sure." Chloe said absentmindedly, peering into the fog she tried to look for the figures on the cliff but if they had ever been there they were gone now. She shrugged it off and turned to look at Kate just as her friend let out a happy cry.

"They're here. The Sons of Ipswich." Kate breathed.

Kate certainly had her attention now, "You make it sound so serious."

Her roommate didn't respond, she was too busy kissing a tall guy with long dark blonde hair. Kate pulled back and pouted, "Babe you're late."

The guy kept his arm around his girlfriend and apologized, "Sorry, I had a thing with the family. Who's this?" He asked with a friendly gesture towards Chloe.

"My new roommate. Chloe, this is Pogue Perry, Tyler Simms, Reid-"

"Garwin!" Pogue's very blonde friend finished for Kate. "Reid Garwin, Goodevening."

With a half laugh Chloe took his proffered hand and shook it firmly, "Goodevening." She replied gravely.

Reid smirked and instantly Chloe hoped he wasn't the one. "You know Chloe was my grandmother's name, you kind of remind me of her actually. I-"

The last of the four boys cut off Reid's bad attempt at flirting by introducing himself, "Caleb Danvers, and you don't bring my grandmother to mind in anyway." He reached for her hand as well.

Chloe grasped his hand just as firmly as his friend's and smirked, "Well if that's the case, my name's Chloe Halliwell."

Chloe's view of Caleb's intoxicating smile was cut off abruptly by a head of curly red hair and she missed the small gleam of recognition in his eyes. "Hi Caleb." The new girl greeted in a fairly seductive tone.

"Kiera." Caleb nodded to her, sans smile.

"How was your summer?"

Caleb glanced at Chloe before starting to answer, "Um."

The girl turned around with an expression Chloe had seen a thousand times back in San Francisco on the faces of girls who thought the world should belong to them, and not just on demon girls either. "I'm Kiera."

"Chloe."

The girls face brightened and Chloe instantly wanted to blow her up, "Oh! From the California public. Tell me how does one go about getting into Spencer from a public?"

"Why don't you give a rest Kiera." Caleb intervened before Chloe could so much as open her mouth to respond.

Another good looking guy popped in on the scene, with his face too close to Caleb's. "No why don't you give it a rest."

Oh boy, she thought this guy is just begging for a fight. Caleb looked at his feet half smiling, "I don't want any trouble Aaron."

"I'm sure you don't." Aaron replied back and Chloe had had enough.

"Ok tough guy, listen up." Chloe said authoritatively, "You too Miss Priss. Why don't you go starting fights somewhere else because if you wanna fight here you'd better be prepared to finish what you start. And quite honestly I don't think either of you have the balls to do anything more than talk shit. We came out here to have a good time and we," She gestured to the people she was hoping would become her friends, "are going to have a good time even if it means stepping over your asses on the ground. You hear me?"

Keira looked at Chloe who stood at least two inches shorter than her with outraged horror while Aaron clenched his jaw and the Sons burst into laughter. Kate clapped her hands which had a chain effect on all the people watching. Soon Chloe was grinning and she looked at Caleb who seemed pleased.

Aaron who was now purple faced with rage made to step forward and was held back by one of his cronies who said, "You posers make me want to puke."

"Then go ahead." Reid told him, and the crony just rolled his eyes. Aaron, with the choice of staying and looking like a bigger idiot or walking away turned his back on the group. He was a step ahead of his friend when the guy suddenly turned green and emptied the contents of his stomach all over Aaron's back. Kiera shrieked while everyone else erupted into startled laughter. A guy from the crowd shouted, "Nice one!" and when Chloe looked around to see who had spoken she caught the eye of a guy staring right at her. She turned away sharply, something in his gaze unsettled her. Her smile died further when she glanced at the Sons who were glaring at Reid. Chloe looked away quickly, seems an awful lot like magic she thought. Looks like she found the right guys, now it was just time for a test. Before she could say anything to the boys the DJ called out over the speakers that the cops were on their way and everyone started to run.

The group followed the runners at a quick walk. "You guys need a ride?" Pogue asked Kate.

"No Chloe drove us out here."

"Oh, see you back at the dorms?"

Kate turned to look at him when she responded, "Naw, It's getting late I think I'm just going to crash." She kissed her boyfriend, "Call me in the morning?"

Pogue nodded and a voice came from behind them, "I could use a lift."

Caleb and Chloe turned to look at the newcomer as Kate told him, "No problem." Chloe was less than pleased when she saw it was the guy that had been staring at her. Caleb offered the guy his hand, "Caleb."

"Chase" The guy responded, "Man that's guys puking made his exit so much funnier."

Reid clapped Caleb on the back, "Didn't it though?" he teased.

The group separated as they reached the cars, the girls and Chase in Chloe's car and the four Sons in Tyler's. Chloe opened the door to her powder blue Jetta and shared a grin and a wave with Caleb. Getting in she tucked her short dark hair behind her ear to conceal the flick of her finger as she moved the spark plugs out of their sockets just a little bit. So when she put the keys in the ignition and attempted to start her car, predictably it didn't start. She opened the door and stuck her head out and yelled at Caleb in fake distress, "My car won't start!"

"Hop in with us!" Pogue called.

Chloe shook her head, "I can't just leave it here."

Reid jumped out of his seat, "I can fix it for you." Caleb muttered something to Reid that she didn't catch and he said something she couldn't hear back. She popped the hood and Reid took a look under it. Barely two seconds later, he called out to her to try it again. She did and when she heard the engine catch she smirked knowing for sure that he was one of the ones she'd been looking for and she was almost certain the rest of the boys were the other three. Reid latched the hood and ran back to the car waving triumphantly at the thank you Chloe called after him.

Not wasting any more time she put the car into drive and followed the train of teenage drivers out of the Dells. Chase after a few failed attempts at engaging Chloe in conversation settled for chatting animatedly with Kate while Chloe drove forcing down shivers. There was something off about the guy and she had no interest in finding out what. Although if he did turn out to be some kind of warlock or demon she'd call her brothers in from California and vanquish the sucker. Because after all she was the daughter of a Charmed one, and a Whitelighter at that.


	2. Chapter 2

Caleb opened the door to his family's manor house and shut it behind him as quietly as could, hoping not to wake his mother. He was stopped on the first step of the stairs by his mother's voice. "You're home early." She called from the den.

He followed the sound of her voice into the room, hoping she didn't have a drink in her hand like usual, and his heart sunk when he saw the glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other. "It's after midnight mother, what are you still doing up?"

She glanced up at him from the armchair she sat in, and tapped her pinky on the glass. "Thinking about my baby, turning 18 this week." She paused to take a slow drag from her cigarette. When she looked up at him again her face was a mask of pain. "God, you look so much like him in this light."

Caleb felt his gut clench once again, just like every time his mother brought up his father in an alcohol induced haze. "You know he was a year younger than you when we met," She continued, "did I ever tell you that?"

Caleb sighed internally, "Yeah you told me. Let's get you up to bed." He told her gently but she didn't listen.

"So handsome, he was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. I'm so afraid that I'll lose you like I did him." His mother stared at her glass as she spoke and then took another puff off her cigarette.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not him?" He asked her with a hint of tired exasperation in his voice. "Ha!" His mother replied, "That's what he said about his father." She set her glass down with a clang onto the table. "You know these _powers _you and your friends developed when you were thirteen are nothing compared to what you get when you ascend. They are a thousand times stronger." Her voice was scornful, and then it softened. "Caleb, they are so seductive, you'll suddenly think the world is yours for the taking and then you really start to use, and use. Aging each time, taking bits of your life until there is nothing left."

Caleb ducked his head and closed his eyes, "I won't"

"That's what he said." His mother picked up her glass for another swallow of the amber liquid inside it. "I can't lose you both, I won't survive it this time, I won't." Caleb sighed and turned away from his mother, not being able to bear looking at her any longer. He wanted so much to spare her the pain, the pain of losing his father to his magic addiction and the eventual loss of Caleb himself. No matter what happens after he ascends on his eighteenth birthday the aging process had already started, the powers he's used in the five years since his powers manifested have already taken away parts of his life. The worst part of it was, that even though he had gotten his powers before the rest of the Sons he'd used his the least. So he knew he'd have to watch his friends wither and die before he did.

He came off of the last step and onto the second floor landing, making a right towards his room. He opened the door and threw his jacket on the chair before face planting onto his bed. He stretched out trying to relax tense muscles. It was getting harder and harder for him to relax, he was getting closer and closer to receiving his full gifts and he had to watch his mother fall deeper and deeper into her tailspin of alcohol and depression. Even before his father had left them his mother had begun to have a problem with alcohol, and it wasn't hard for Caleb to understand why. Watching your husband's body grow old to look twice his age while you remained young and beautiful had to have been terrible for her. Hell, it was hard on Caleb and he had been barely old enough to know about the powers and their consequences. It was watching the pain in his mother's eyes more than anything else that had given him the self-control not to abuse the powers he was given. He never wanted his mother to look younger than her only son. Unbidden the image of a short girl with dark wavy hair and sparkling green eyes popped into his mind and brought a smile to his face. Kate's roommate, Chloe was quite a girl from what Caleb had seen of her so far.

She looked barely fifteen even though he knew she had to be close to eighteen to be a senior. Yet for all that youthfulness she sure had a fiery personality, to say the things she had to Aaron and Kiera had taken guts. He laughed a little out loud thinking about it, at least he knew now not to piss her off. He had a feeling even with his powers she could still do some damage if she tried. Which brought him back to her last name, Halliwell. He'd heard it somewhere before. At the Dells he'd dismissed it when he'd thought it sounded familiar but know he was sure he'd heard it before. Especially since she was from San Francisco and with what he knew about that city it was supposed to be a supernatural hotbed.

He'd have to remember to ask Gordon about it tomorrow when he brought him the pills from the pharmacy. With that thought in mind he drifted off to an uneasy sleep with his shoes still on and on top of the covers.


	3. Chapter 3

"So why do you call them the Sons of Ipswich, what are they the next Nsync or something?" Chloe asked Kate as she started to undress for her shower.

Her friend threw her head back and laughed. "I like you you're funny, not like all the other stuck up bitches." She sat down at her desk in front of the mirror and picked up her hairbrush. "No they're supposedly descended from the five founding families that settle the Ipswich colonies in the 1600s. Old money." She grinned into the mirror at Chloe, "You know Caleb and Reid were both checking you out tonight, but if it were me I'd go for Caleb."

Chloe shrugged off her tank top, "Why, he more mature or something?" She subtly asked if he was the oldest.

Kate didn't notice the inquiry, "Well he is the oldest out of all of them actually his birthday is this Saturday," Chloe heaved a sigh of relief, so Caleb really was the one. "but no he's just one of those majorly good guys."

Getting off of her bed Chloe asked, "How so?"

"Like he could stay here in the dorms and party with the rest of us but he stays home to take care of his mom." Kate's voice had the same tone as if she were talking about a basket of kittens instead of a high school senior boy.

The shorter girl frowned, "Is she sick or something?"

"Something, she kind of became and alcoholic when Caleb's dad died."

Chloe wrapped herself in her towel and grabbed her shower caddy. "That's sad."

"I guess." Kate said with a shrug.

"So…" Chloe started with a hint of mystery to her voice. "is he seeing anyone?"

Kate ate it up, turning to grin at her new friend. "So we are interested! He's completely single."

"Good." Chloe chirped, "I'm going to shower now." She told her roommate before going out the door and left towards the bathrooms. Geez, she thought, the dorms look creepy at night. Shrugging off the thought she entered the bathroom and headed towards the closest shower. She hung her towel and caddy on their respective hooks and turned on the water, waiting until it was warm to step under the spray. She took her time washing her hair and body before she felt a tingle on the back of her neck like eyes watching her. Then a flash of light and one of the light bulbs shattered. She jumped and turned around, seeing nothing but unable to shake the feeling that something was watching her she gave herself one quick rinse and turned off the water. She wrapped herself in the towel and gathered her things.

Stepping out onto the tile she looked around and saw nothing but her own reflection in the mirrors. She ducked and looked under the stalls, seeing nothing and feeling foolish she straightened. She stepped close to the broken glass on the floor and looked up at the empty socket. The feeling of being watched increased and she held her hands protectively in front of herself. Something touched her on the shoulder and she whirled around with a shriek and threw her hands out in front of herself accidentally shattering one of the mirrors. "Shit." She muttered and fixed it with a wave of her hand before rushing out of the bathrooms.

She walked quickly back to the room she shared with Kate but stopped when she felt another presence in the hall. She slowly turned to look behind and when she faced front again Reid was a foot away. Shrieking for the second time in as many minutes she froze him, when she realized what she had done she quickly glanced around to make sure no one had seen before unfreezing him. "You scared me!" She said and slapped at his hand.

"Sorry." He said with a trace of smirk, "Didn't mean to, scouts honor."

She sighed and ran a hand through her wet hair. "Don't be, I'm just a little jumpy, felt like someone was watching me in the showers."

He considered her for a moment before stepping past her and titling his head, "Let's take a look shall we?"

"No!" His eyes widened, "I mean no, it's ok there was no one there. I doubt there'd be anyone now."

Reid shrugged, "if you're sure." He paused for a moment and a half smile appeared on his face like he was gearing up to be charming. "You know, Tyler and I are going out tomorrow night, you should come with us."

"I don't know." Chloe hedged, the last thing she needed was the wrong Son getting too attached. She wasn't even sure if she was going to want the one she was here to see. Reid was probably a good guy, but it'd be better off for everyone involved if she didn't so much as think of going there. "I know Kate and I are going into to town with that Chase guy tomorrow, I'm not sure if she was planning on doing anything else."

"Oh sure." Reid said with a nod, "I'll text Kate tomorrow, see what's going on."

"Sure." Chloe agreed with a small smile. Reid gave her a half salute and walked away towards his own room. She turned back to the door and let out a huge sigh before going in. "What am I getting myself into?" She muttered.

In the room Kate was just crawling into bed and a thought popped into Chloe's head. "Hey what happened to the fifth?"

The brown eyed girl frowned, "What?"

"The fifth family, what happened to them?"

"Oh!" Kate's eyes lit up in understanding, and she formed her face to match a mysterious smile. "They say that the fifth was killed off during the Salem Witch Hunts, cool huh?"

"Hmm." Chloe responded nonchalantly, but inside her heart twisted. The witch hunts had killed her own ancestor, Melinda Warren. Yet Chloe knew that the family that was killed off was the reason for the curse of the Covenant.


	4. Chapter 4

Driving down the main road into town Caleb called Pogue. "Hey man." Po answered on the third ring.

"Hey, we have a problem." He said grimly into his cell.

"What now?" Pogue sounded exasperated.

"Someone used last night, and I mean big time." Caleb sighed. "I think it was Reid."

"What makes you think it was Reid?"

Caleb scoffed, "It's always him, but I've never felt it when someone has used a power before have you?"

"No, I don't know maybe it's because you're so close to ascending."

Sighing he answered. "I don't know maybe," He said doubtfully. "But I'm telling you it was strong enough to wake me from a dead sleep."

Pogue voice was lower and more serious when he replied. "You know he's only using his powers to piss you off because he's jealous you're ascending first man."

"I know, but I'm telling yo- Shit!" Caleb dropped the phone in shock, the car swerving when a darkling burst into existence in the passenger seat, using the face of the kid that died the night before out at the Dells. The face pulled apart into a monstrous creature with holes for eyes and mouth before disappearing just as fast as it had appeared. With both hands on the wheel Caleb turned to look forward and froze. He felt his eyes go black just before everything else did as the car and exploded on impact with a truck and he along with it.

It felt like a lifetime but in reality it was less than a second before he and his car reformed on the highway and he slammed his foot on the brake and threw the car into park. He was drenched in a cold sweat, shaking and gasping. He could hear Pogue voice yelling at him from the floorboards and with a shaking hand he reached down and picked up the phone. He took a breath and spoke into the receiver. "I just saw a darkling, it was in the form of that dead kid they found at the Dells last night."

"Yeah I saw his picture in the morning newspaper, but who would send you a darkling?"

Caleb shook his head and breathed, "I have no idea, something is wrong I can feel it."

"Look we need to talk to the boys tonight. They'll probably be at Nicky's, so we'll see them then."

"Definitely" Caleb agreed, leaning his head on the rest and closing his eyes. He hung up the phone and dropped it into the cupholder. He sighed again trying to getting rid of his tension, it didn't work but he shook his head anyways and threw the car into drive.

He leaned against the pharmacy counter as the pharmacist filled a prescription for him. He rubbed his temples with his thumbs and sighed. He lifted his head just as David walked back to counter and handed him the bag. "Here you go Caleb."

"Thanks." Caleb said and turned away from the counter. He spotted Kate with a basket by the door to drugstore and smiled, "Hey Kate."

"Caleb." She greeted.

"What are doing out here?" He asked her.

She shrugged, "Oh just stocking up our room. Hey did you hear about the dead kid?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Did you know him?" She asked softly.

He shook his head, "No, he'd just transferred in."

She looked away, "Yeah I heard he lived on Reid and Tyler's floor."

"Oh hey Caleb!" Came Chloe's cheerful voice from behind him and he turned around. To see her with her deep brown hair tucked behind one ear. She had a hand on the light orange scarf around her neck and crossed her brown booted feet when she came to a stop in font of him.

"Chloe." He greeted her warmly, "Having a good morning?"

"Eh." She shrugged with a small grin, "Shopping is a necessary evil."

At that moment Chase jumped out at Kate from behind the rack to her left, "Boo!"

Kate laughed and smacked him lightly on the arm, "jerk! You scared me."

"Speaking of necessary evils." He heard Chloe mutter out of the corner of her mouth just loud enough for him to catch. Her tanned cheeks turned pink when he snorted in response.

Kate looked at her strangely but didn't say anything. "I'm going to see if Pogue wants to catch that new Brad Pitt flick this afternoon, who else wants to join?" She sang out the last part.

"I'll go," Chase immediately offered.

Caleb shook his head silently hoping Chloe didn't want to go, "I have to run some errands for my mother." He said.

"I already saw it." Chloe chimed in immediately after, and Caleb seized the opportunity, "You feel like running some errands?"

"Is shopping involved?" She asked him suspiciously squinting her eyes at him.

He grinned, "None at all."

"In that case…" She looked handed her basket over to Kate, "I'll see you later roomie."

Kate laughed and Caleb caught the wink and the mouthed have fun she shot at Chloe.

Chloe followed him out the door and to his silver mustang. He went around and opened the passenger door for her. She whistled, "Nice car, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised." She got in and he shut the door before going around to the driver's side. "What's that supposed to mean?" he teased her.

"Oh come on." She rolled her eyes at him, "Kate basically said you're all rich."

He pulled off the curb and started down the road towards the colony house. "Oh I see, you and Kate were talking about me." He grinned at her teasingly, feeling pleased.

She gave him a side eyed look. "Did you expect us not too?"

"No."

"Oh so you expected us to talk about you." Chloe said and he knew he was trapped, "Someone's cocky."

He laughed, "Cocky!?" he glanced over at her, "I hoped is all."

"You did huh?" she said softly and she half smiled.

He smiled and chuckled to himself, "Yeah, I did."

They drove in silence after that until they came up to the old Putnam Barn. "That's the old Putnam Barn, what's left of it anyway. This whole place for miles around is part of the original Ipswich Colony."

"That's incredible its still here." Chloe breathed, looking behind them as they passed by it.

"Yeah," Caleb agreed, "So what brought you to Spencer?"

Chloe faced forward again and adjusted herself, "Scholarship."

He half smiled since he knew that much already. "But why Spencer?"

"I had my pick of schools all across the country." She said it without being smug or arrogant, just stating it as simple fact. "But I want to go to Harvard."

He nodded thoughtfully, "My dad's class of 81."

"Really?" She tilted her head to the side.

He nodded with a smile.

"Kate uh, said he passed away." She said with her head down like she didn't want to upset him, which he was grateful for even if t was unnecessary.

He deflected the unasked question, "Talking about me again were you?"

She laughed and shook her head in exasperation, "You act just like my brother Chris."

"You have a brother?" He asked surprised even though he didn't have any reason to be, he hardly knew anything about this girl.

"Mmhm." She nodded, "Two. Wyatt and Chris. Both older and both annoying, but I love em."

"That must have been nice." Caleb said, he'd always wanted a sibling even though with the Sons it was almost like he had three. "Not growing up alone."

She laughed out loud, "Well it sure made getting away with things so much easier. I have cousins that are as close as siblings too."

He nodded his head and slowed the car to a stop in front of the fence that surrounded the old house. "That's my family's first colony house." He told Chloe as he unbuckled his seatbelt and made to step out of the car.

"Someone actually lives here?" She asked incredulously.

Opening the car door he said, "Just our caretaker, Gorman." The blast of a shotgun went off and he and Chloe both jumped.

"Who's there?" Gorman's grouching voice called out from the front door.

Caleb waved his hand with the pharmacy bag in the air, "Gorman! It's just me." He shouted.

"Who's with you?"

Caleb wanted to roll his eyes at Gorman's paranoia, "A friend." He looked down at Chloe still in the car. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

On the third floor of the old house Caleb found Gorman staring out the front window, "Caleb, you should be more careful."

"I know Gorman." Caleb said softly, "Is there anything else he needs?"

"No"

"Then I'll see you next week." Caleb paused on the first step remembering he wanted to ask Gorman a question. "Gorman, have you ever heard the name Halliwell?"

Caleb watched as Gorman's back stiffened and he turned to look at Caleb sharply, "Is that who's in the car?"

Confused Caleb nodded his head.

The caretaker let out a long sigh, "Bring her in then, it's time we had a chat."

Still confused Caleb went down the stairs and out the front door to the car. "Chloe, come on." He motioned for her to get out of the car and she did with a small frown.

"What's up?" She asked in a wary tone.

Caleb shrugged, "Gorman wants to talk to you." Her brow furrowed and she followed Caleb up to the creaking old house and up the steep steps to the third floor.

"This the girl?" Gorman asked gruffly to Caleb when he saw them, Chloe standing hesitantly just behind Caleb's left shoulder. When Caleb nodded he asked her, "What's your name girl?"

Chloe lifted her chin and stepped out from behind him, "Chloe Halliwell."

Gorman eyed her speculatively, "So it's time then is it, witch?"

Chloe's eyes widened and Caleb felt very confused. "Witch?"

She turned to Caleb quickly with a pleading expression, "Caleb, I was going to tell you I swear! I just thought I had more time, I wanted to be sure."

Feeling overwhelmed he took a half step back, "What are you talking about?"

Her shoulders dropped and she glanced at Gorman before looking back at Caleb and saying, "I'm a witch Caleb, I have magic, like you."

"How did you know?" He said feeling a little bit betrayed.

"Well," She looked at her boot clad toes and sighed, "I came to Spencer to meet you, there's a curse on the Covenant and I came here to see if you all were worth breaking it for."

"I'm confused." Caleb said and had a thought that had him glaring at Gorman, "You knew about this?"

"Caleb." Gorman started forward, "You have to understand, the curse, part of it is why the powers make you age. It was the curse that did this to your father." He gestured back towards the arm chair where a withered old man sat, hooked up to IVs and oxygen tubes.

"It's a curse?" He breathed out.

Chloe came forward and put her hand on his arm, "Yes, Caleb, but that's not the worst of it."

He focused his eyes on her watery green ones. "What could be worse than this?"

She sighed and looked at Gorman, "Can we sit down? I think I should start at the beginning."

Gorman gestured to the couch on the opposite side of the room and Chloe led Caleb there. She folded her hands in her lap while Caleb watched her, a million thoughts rushing through his brain. She sighed and gripped the material of her leggings. "Well, as you know the five founding families of the Ipswich Colony were the first families of the Covenant. What you don't know is that the reason John Putnam was cast out of the Covenant was because he attacked a witch. He came as an incubus to one of the witches in my ancestor Melinda Warren's coven. Since he not only abused his gifts and attacked one of her own and had done this before she cursed him and the rest of the Covenant. She said that since the nature of your powers was to essentially allow you to do anything that you could think of doing it allowed too great a capacity for evil. In this I think she was right, it's easy to be corrupted by power. But this curse stated that after the Charmed Ones had completed their destiny and all was right with the world, my mother is a Charmed One by the way, a witch of her line and a Son of Ipswich would be born on the same day, at the same time and then the curse would begin to reach its end. Either the Covenant and it's powers would be destroyed completely or the curse would be broken for all the generations to come."

Caleb's head was spinning as he tried to process what she just told him, "What does that mean?"

Chloe turned pink at this, "Well in the Book of Shadows, which is my family's spellbook, it says Melinda created a way to end the curse. Leaving the decision to the one of her line who was born the same day as a Son. That decision is to see if the Covenant has truly changed it's ways and become a force of good, if the girl, me, decides that yes the Covenant is deserving of having the curse unbound she must be so sure of this that she is willing to bind herself to the Son. Or when the last ascends to his full power the Covenant will end in death."

Still utterly confused Caleb waved his hand, "Meaning…"

Chloe blushed an even brighter pink and said, "To break the curse we'd have to get married. My birthday is this Saturday same as you. Or when Tyler ascends you all die."

Caleb sat in stunned silence, _married!_ His brain was screaming at him. "But we're not even eighteen yet!"

Chloe chuckled, "That's what you got out of all that? Not that if we don't get married you all die?"

Caleb spluttered, "Well that too!"

She smiled and gave him a sad smile, "Look I know this is a lot to consider, believe me I know, but I've had almost a year to think about this. My job as a good witch is to save innocents, sacrifice is part of the gig. I'm willing to do this, for you. For all of you." She gestured at his father sitting there in the armchair.

His eyes filled with tears at the implications of what she was telling him, he wouldn't have to worry about aging anymore he wouldn't have to worry about Reid killing himself everyday. "What about my father, will it heal him too?"

She nodded and then bit her lip in thought. She pushed herself off the couch, "In fact… since I've basically just decided you're worth saving I might just be able to," She didn't finish her sentence instead walking over to his father and standing over him, "I might have left out one thing, I'm half whitelighter." She held out her hands, letting them hover just over his father's heart and then they started to glow with a soft golden light. Unable to believe what he was seeing Caleb watched as his father's skin smoothed out and his hair darkened. When Chloe pulled her hands away his father looked just like he had when Caleb was a little boy.

"Dad?" He asked afraid to move in case it was just an illusion.

Caleb's father pulled the nasal cannula off of his face and smiled up at Chloe, "You extraordinary girl." He said in a voice that Caleb hadn't heard in years. Caleb and his father stood at the same time and when his father looked away from Chloe and saw Caleb standing there he crossed the room in two strides and hugged Caleb harder than he'd ever been hugged before.


	5. Chapter 5

They had been in the old house for close to an hour when Chloe got a text from Kate saying she and Chase had just gotten out of their movie. "Caleb." Chloe called out gently.

Caleb glanced back at her with a face so full of happiness she almost hated to cut it short. "We need to go."

He tilted his head at her almost to say do we have to?

She pursed her lips in light amusement, "Yes, we have to go. Unless you want to explain to Kate how your father miraculously returned from the dead, we need to get going. She said something about Nicky's?"

Caleb sighed and got to his feet. He hugged his father tightly and said something she didn't try to hear. "I'll try to come back tomorrow."

"I'd like that." His father replied.

The dark haired boy nodded and took Chloe by the arm, "You need to get changed."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Chloe protested indignantly as she stomped down the stairs.

Caleb threw his hands up in surrender, "Nothing! Just, it gets a little hot in Nicky's."

She hopped off the last step and spun to look at her possible future husband, "And what exactly is Nicky's?"

Caleb just grinned, teasing her with his silence. "Fine, be that way." She huffed intent on ignoring him for the foreseeable future, which in her family's case could mean a very long time. She walked ahead of him on the long lawn in front of the colony house and shrieked when he unexpectedly swung her into his arms. "Caleb! Put me down!"

"Hmm no." He kept walking as if she weighed nothing at all. "Ow!" He said when she hit him in the chest with her fist.

"Put me down, now!" She demanded, feigning anger but really feeling pleased that he was showing his playful side. He ignored her protests until he got to the car and then he dropped her unceremoniously into her seat. "Hey!"

"You asked me to put you down." He reminded her with a sly grin.

"On my feet!"

He just continued to smile at her and then it softened and turned fond. "Do you even know how grateful I am to you?"

Suddenly feeling awkward and embarrassed, she ducked her head and felt her skin turn pink. His hand on her shoulder had her glancing up at him, his face was so openly grateful. "I mean it, if it weren't for you I never would have had the chance to see my father like that again. Even without that, if you had stayed home, we would have all died without knowing why." His hand moved up to cup her cheek and unconsciously she leaned into it. "You didn't even have to come here, why did you?"

She half smiled, "It is what we do. Besides how could I not, I couldn't just leave you all here to die without even thinking about it, but are you sure about this? I mean I've had time to come to terms with this, I don't want you to feel like I hijacked your life out of nowhere demanding you marry me or die."

Caleb was shaking his head before she'd even finished talking. "No, no I don't think that at all." Turning his body to face hers he took her hand with his free one. "Chloe, I'd sacrifice my happiness in a heartbeat to protect the people that I love."

Her heart sinking Chloe breathed, "Oh."

Caleb gripped her hand tightly, "No! That's not what I meant!" He let out a frustrated noise and pulled his hand away from her face to run it through his hair. "I don't think I'd be sacrificing my happiness by marrying you, not at all, I've only know you for two days and I can say that much. I just meant that you could be a horrible hag and if it meant saving my family I'd still marry you. You just have to understand, before when I thought about marriage it was only with someone I really loved. I never wanted to continue this cycle of pain our powers bring, to make me even consider marriage I wanted to be 1,000% percent sure I loved a girl. And… I'm sorry I just don't love you, not yet, because believe me I'm sure I will."

Now feeling like she was the one thrown out of whack Chloe nodded. "I understand." She told him and she did, really, "I mean when I thought about my wedding I always thought I'd be done with college and settled, not 18 and with a man I barely know. I feel like I shouldn't complain, I mean I signed up for this I came here knowing there was a real possibility I'd come home bringing a fiancé to meet the family. This just didn't feel real until I'd met you and seen what a great guy you are, and I know this isn't the life I think either of us would have chosen…" She let the sentence hang off unsure of what else she could say.

"But I'm glad I got to meet you." Caleb finished for her.

Her eyes wide and wet she nodded, "Yeah."

He stared at her for a moment like he was searching for something in her face before leaning in slowly and kissing her. Her eyes slid shut and his mouth was on hers, soft and warm. He kissed her slowly keeping it chaste and it was enough. It made her heart melt and when he pulled away they were both smiling. She looked up at him and his eyes were so dark they were almost black filled with an emotion she couldn't place. "We should go." He said and she agreed, pulling back into her seat and buckling her seatbelt.

He started the car and turned it around before reaching over and taking her hand in hers without looking at her. Feeling like it was too quiet she reached out and started to fiddle with his preset stations, scrunching her face in disgust at his music choices. "You can't seriously tell me you like this stuff!"

"What's wrong with my music?"

"It's crap!" She turned onto random stations, searching for the one she and Kate had playing in the dorm. The rest of the drive passed by quickly as they talked, trying to learn more about each other. She listened as he laughed about the antics the boys had gotten into as kids and he constantly was asking questions about life in San Francisco. She told him about all the different powers people in her family have, far too many for him to keep straight. She told him about her powers: the ability to heal, freeze things and people, blow things up, move things with her mind and orb. Her brother Wyatt who could do all the things that she could and more, things like creating fire and protective shields. Chris, while having a smaller number of powers was just as powerful as Chloe maybe even more so, he was much better at potion making, has more knowledge of spells and demon lore, at times he could even change objects into something else and his telekinesis was much stronger than hers.


	6. Chapter 6

When they got to the dorms Caleb followed Chloe up to her room and waited at her desk while she shuffled around her clothes trying to decide what to wear. Looking around at the objects scattered on her desk he noticed a photo album with the triquatra on the cover. When he touched it the symbol glowed orange and then faded back to muted gold. "What did I do?" He called over his shoulder at the short dark haired girl.

"Don't worry, it's just a spell that only allows magical people to see some of the pictures." She told him gathering a bundle of clothes and taking them into the bathroom. "You can go ahead and look"

He took her approval and opened it up, on the front page in a curvy script it read, A Charmed Life. He flipped over the next page to find a picture of a man and a woman he assumed were Chloe's parents. He could see Chloe in her mom's smile and the shape of her father's eyes. The next picture featured three children, a blonde boy who looked about 5 or 6 a younger boy with dark hair and a baby girl in a green dress and bow. The next series of photos showed the siblings in various stages of growth along with Chloe's parents and two other women who resembled Chloe's mom. One picture that looked to only be a few years old showed Chloe with her hands thrown out at Wyatt who was half swirling lights and Chris who was ducking down behind Wyatt as a vase was in mid explosion. He assumed this was one of the pictures only a few could see. There was even a picture of the three of them huddled around a cauldron, Chris was holding a stirring stick and Chloe was dropping in some herb Caleb didn't recognize and Wyatt had his finger on a giant book.

"You guys have a book too right?" Chloe's voice startled him, not realizing she was standing right behind him.

"Yeah, the Book of Damnation." He told her.

"Ooooo creepy." He could hear her rolling her eyes, "I swear they name these things by trying to be dramatic. Ours is the Book of Shadows." He turned around to look at her and paused, she was beautiful. She'd gone simple with a loose fitting white and blue striped t shirt tucked into a pair of cutoff shorts with a brown belt and had exchanged her winter footwear with a pair of scuffed short cowboy boots. With her dark loose hair and tanned legs she radiated warmth and the California sun, which was striking in the cold east coast. He tried to make his mouth work but it wouldn't cooperate with him, "You uh, you should gr-grab a jacket." He stuttered out, feeling like a love struck idiot.

She snorted, "Already ahead of you." She threw the strap of her bag around her neck and picked up a navy blue sweater and her cell phone. "You ready?" He nodded and breathed an internal sigh of relief that she didn't comment on his stutter. She walked past him still sitting at the desk and walked out the door, leaving it open for him to follow. "Come on Forest, run" She called when she was out of sight. He snorting thinking he should have known better and followed after her. She laughed when she looked back and saw him behind her and that more than anything made him grin and say, "You better run."

She smirked and took off down the hall her booted footsteps echoing loudly. He chased after her while she laughed loudly and didn't catch up to her until they got to the stairs where she waited for him breathing heavily and sporting a wide grin. "Nice running Forest." She breathed as he stepped in closer, forcing her back into the wall. She leaned her head against it to look up at him and before he could stop himself he kissed her. For real this time, with one hand snaking around her waist to pull her small body up against his and his other tangling itself in her hair. He kissed her until the sound of giggling freshmen girls had him pull away gasping for air. "Wow." She whispered.

"Yeah" He agreed, resting his forehead against hers, his fingers released her hair and slipped down to rest with his thumb on her collar bone. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest against his hand. She trailed her hands up from his hips to push against his chest, "We're going to be late."

"I don't care."

She groaned, "You are such a guy." Her hand came up to take his wrist and draw him with her down the steps. "Come on lover boy."


	7. Chapter 7

Since chapter 6 was so short I decided to post chapter 7 at the same time :] Enjoy!

* * *

Kate, Chase, Chloe and Caleb sat at table inside Nicky's waiting for Pogue. They were having a good time except from the fact that Chloe couldn't look at Chase without having a chill go down her back, Caleb didn't seem to have a problem. Although he did pick up on her resistance and tried to ease it by steering the conversation towards harmless topics. Chloe was in the midst of gasping for air in laughter as she told a story about how her brother Chris had once brought some pot home and was smoking it when their mom was out. And he'd had an allergic reaction to it, that Caleb was sure had stemmed from some magical mixture of weed and herbs, that had him covered in itching hives and he was forced to call their mother and explain when Pogue showed up. Kate was cracking up she saw Pogue and had to wait for her giggles to subside before she could greet her boyfriend.

"Oh hey baby," She kissed him, "You missed a great movie."

Pogue leaned forward and shrugged out of his jacket, "Yeah I had to get my bike fixed."

"Oh don't worry," Kate told him waving her hand, "Chase hung out and kept me company."

Pogue threw Chase a half accusing glare, "I'll just bet he did."

Kate frowned and Chloe winced in friendly sympathy, even though she did agree with Pogue's assessment of Chase. "You want something to eat?"

Kate brought her smile back when she answered, "Yeah I'll just pick at whatever you're having."

Pogue hung his jacket over the spare chair and went up to the bar to order. Kate shared a meaningful glance with Chloe and all Chloe could do was shrug. Having a jealous boyfriend was not easy. Chloe was about to ask Kate about the next morning's first class when Chase challenged Caleb to a game of foosball. Caleb agreed and kissed Chloe's cheek when he got up. He went with Chase and Chloe had to look at Kate's satisfied expression. "What?"

"So you and Caleb seem to be hitting it off." Kate grinned suggestively.

Chloe turned pink and shrugged, "Yeah we learned a lot about each other today."

Kate tilted her head and pursed her lips, "Spill."

Chloe sighed and gave into the compulsion to talk like a normal high school girl for a moment. "Fine, he might have kissed me a little."

"A little! Define a little." Kate leaned forward like Chloe was about to spill some huge secret.

"Okay twice." Her friend's delighted squeal had her smiling and the gesture to continue was understood. "Well first in the car outside his house, but that was barely anything. The real one came on the way here."

"Ah! I knew it! That's why you were late." Kate was practically vibrating with glee. "Details!"

Chloe laughed, "Okay, okay. When we were leaving the dorm room he stuttered so when I was out the door in front of him I told him to 'Come on Forest'" Kate laughed appropriately and Chloe could tell she was dying to ask what made the unflappable Caleb Danvers stutter but she held it in. "When he shut the door behind himself he told me I better run, so I did and he caught up with me at the stairs and before I knew it my back was against the wall and we were going at it."

Kate did a little dance in her seat, "That is so hot." She laughed, "Ah I wish it was still like that with Po, he just gets so jealous."

Chloe nodded sympathetically, "Not to defend him or anything but I can see where he's coming from where Chase is concerned."

"Why?" Kate asked genuinely confused.

Chloe made a face, "I don't know there's just something about the guy, doesn't feel right."

"Hmm" Kate said but Chloe could tell she didn't take it seriously.

"Okay what's the deal?"

Kate shook her head confused, "With what?"

"Well, we should all be together having fun."

Her roomie shrugged, "You know boy and their toys."

Chloe smirked an idea coming to mind, "We'll see about that." She got out of her seat and fished in her bag for a quarter. She held it up in front of her nose with an impish expression and Kate laughed.

"You go girl." And Chloe did, she went over to the jukebox and picked a dancing song, one her Aunt Phoebe liked to play when she was in a rocking mood.

The song came blaring over the speakers and Chloe grinned, with a glance over a Kate she headed over to Caleb who looked up when she grabbed his hand, "Come on, we're dancing."

He grinned at her and threw an apologetic glance over his shoulder at Pogue who just laughed it off and went over to his girlfriend. "I'm not a good dancer" Caleb warned her and she scoffed.

"And you think I am?" His hand went to her hip as they rolled and moved with the music. She swiveled her hips and Caleb went with her, they were both grinning and just getting into when a loud crash and the sounds of a starting fight reached their ears. When she looked behind her she saw Reid shove Aaron and face off against him. They started moving towards the back door when Caleb called over to Pogue, "Hey it's Reid and Tyler, grab my jacket." Caleb let go of her hand to reach for the jacket Pogue handed him as Chase asked, "Hey you guys need some help."

"Naw man, just stay with the girls." Pogue said as he got closer to Chloe. She snorted and started to follow Caleb to the door. "Caleb." Pogue called, his tone conveying his concern for her involvement in a potentially magical situation. Not that Pogue had any inkling that she knew of course.

"No it's ok." Caleb reassured him and kept going to the door she could hear unintelligible voice saying something in a nasty tone before Caleb shouted going down the steps, "What's the problem?"

"None of your damn business." Aaron sneered and Chloe had enough. With a twist of both her wrists she froze all seven boys.

"Oh boy," she sighed and with her right hand and an elegant twist of the wrist she unfroze the sons of the Covenant.

"He bet-" Reid started with a step towards the frozen forms of Aaron and his lackeys. "What the hell?" He gasped and she heard similar exclamations from Po and Tyler.

Caleb rolled his head around to look at her standing behind him and Pogue on the steps. "Really Clo?"

"What?" She asked indignantly, "It was about to get messy, and it's as good a time as any." He threw his hands up in exasperation and looked back to the boys frozen in place.

"How'd you-?" Pogue started to ask her but she cut him off.

"I'm a witch, we'll explain everything later. Now what's the problem?" She looked at Reid expectantly.

After a glance at Caleb he told them, "This dickhead bet me I couldn't make a shot and I did."

"Let me guess, have a little help?" She wiggled her fingers by her ear to mime magic.

Reid took a step towards her when he replied, "No, what're you-"

Caleb rolled his eyes at his friend, "Save it Reid she knows."

"You told her!?" Po started in angrily.

"No she," Caleb started, "already knew." Chloe finished for him. "Now let's get back to business, get back to your places before they unfreeze and Reid start talking."

"Bossy" Reid muttered but did as she asked, Tyler followed still wide eyed and confused.

"Ok." Chloe said and unfroze the bunch, just like they'd let off Reid finished the sentence he'd originally started.

"Bet me I couldn't make a combo shot and, I did." He said with, from what she had seen so far, his typical flare for the smug and dramatic.

"Why don't we just forget about it, ok" Caleb tried to pacify Aaron and his goons since during the time she'd unfrozen Reid, he'd had time to calm down a bit over the bet.

"Hey!" Nicky's voice came from behind Chloe and she turned around to see a big angry man with a baseball bat. She hurried down the last two steps to get out of his way. "Take it someplace else ladies, now!"

"Whatever you say Nicky." Aaron said, as usual backing away from fights he'd started and didn't want to finish. He and his friends pushed through the Sons and walked off down the alley towards the street.

When the door to the bar was shut and Aaron and his friends were gone Caleb turned to Reid shaking his head, "What were you thinking?"

"We were just playing them." Reid defended.

Tyler chose that moment to start in on it too, "Yeah, come on Caleb, they were suckers for it."

"Why don't you stop being a pussy and pull that stick out of your ass." Reid tried to push by Caleb but Caleb stopped him with a hand to the shoulder.

"I'm not finished with you yet." Caleb said and Reid gripped his wrist, his eyes going black and the veins in Caleb's hand popped out of his skin.

Chloe started forward to help but Pogue stopped her with a hand around her waist, "He's got this." She glanced up at him but he was too busy watching as Caleb threw Reid off in a burst of power that had the blonde boy slamming into the wall.

"What will it take for you to get it? It's addictive you moron! You've seen what it can do if you abuse it if you want that it's your business, but if you use it out in the open like you did tonight you risk exposing us all. And that, I won't let happen." Reid got to his feet and started to raise one of the kegs lined up outside with his powers.

"My power's greater than yours." Caleb told him.

Without looking up Reid said, "Not until you ascend."

"Alright then go for it tough guy." Caleb said lifting his hands in a come at me gesture. Reid rose to the challenge and the barrel went flying towards Caleb but he deflected it with barely any effort and sent Reid soaring back into the stacks of empty beer bottles. Caleb started to stalk toward him but Pogue launched forward and held Caleb back. "Stop it! This is crazy!"

"It's for his own good." Caleb growled and Chloe was surprised by the anger in his voice. "If you keep using like you did tonight like you did last night!"

Reid shrugged Tyler off and made his way towards Caleb. "So I fixed her car big deal!" Chloe felt a guilty twinge about that.

"Don't play me Reid, I'm talking later and you know it!" Caleb tried to push Pogue off and failed.

"The hell I do!" Reid complained, "I didn't use later." He pushed past Pogue and Caleb and they let him go.

"It's not right using on each other Caleb." Tyler said earnestly.

Caleb scoffed, "Ya tell it to Reid."

The youngest son sighed and made to go back inside after Reid, "Tyler wait." Chloe called, stopping him. She looked over at Caleb, "We need to tell them, tonight. Do you have somewhere we can go?"

Caleb turned to look at her, "Yeah, Tyler get Reid and meet us at the Book. Now."

Shaking his head Tyler sighed, "He won't come."

"Then trick him, tell him you need to get a spell from the Book, I don't know just get him there." Chloe cut in.

Tyler nodded before going back inside.

When the door swung shut Caleb ran his fingers through his hair, "Reid's lying it had to be him."

"How do you know?" Pogue asked him quietly.

"Because it wasn't you, and Tyler doesn't have the balls to lie to me."

Chloe huffed slightly impatiently and waited until they turned to look at her, "What are you talking about?"

He walked towards her and took her hand, "I'll explain on the way, we should get there first."


	8. Chapter 8

Caleb just wanted this day to be over with already. The day had started off horrible when he'd been woken up in the middle of the night by a blast of power. The rest of the day had been a rollercoaster as well, Chloe had dropped a huge bomb on him, his father had miraculously been revived and then Reid had to go and pull another one of his stupid stunts. He sighed and squinted tired eyes at the road in front of him.

"So you're telling me that someone used enough power to wake you from a dead sleep and then you were sent the magical equivalent of a jack in the box but you have no idea who?" Chloe asked.

"Well, I'm pretty damn sure it was Reid but," Caleb scratched his head, "he's not one to pull a stunt like this and then just keep quiet about it. Something weird is definitely happening around here."

He caught Chloe's frown out of the corner of his eye, "Are you sure it was Covenant power you felt, I mean you're sure it wasn't a warlock or demon?"

"No it was definitely the Covenant."

Chloe stayed quiet and he could tell she was working up to saying something. He let her be and focused on trying to keep his eyes open.

"What if," Chloe shook her head, "Nevermind."

Caleb wanted to smile but he held it in, "What?"

Chloe let out a huge sigh and twisted in her seat so she was looking at him straight on, glanced at her and saw her eyes were very bright in the darkness. "Are you completely sure the fifth family is gone?" She asked him her voice deathly serious and quiet. Well, he wasn't expecting her to ask him that.

"No, the fifth family is gone it was destroyed a long time ago." He said but he knew he sounded far from sure. "There's no way, John Putnam died without a child."

Chloe titled her head, "He came as an incubus to at least one woman, can we ever really know that there aren't any more we've never heard of?"

"There was one." Caleb said thoughtfully. "But we'll have to think about this later, we have more important news to deliver."

The girl in the seat next to him took a deep breath. "You're right. This should be fun." Her voice was sarcastic and he snorted in response and pulled off the main road and onto the path that lead to the birthplace of the Covenant. On the surface it looked like a decaying shack built against a boulder, which really it was, but inside there were stairs cut into the rock that led down into a secret room.

"This is where you keep your book?" Chloe said disbelievingly, "Really?"

Getting out of the car he smirked, "Don't be fooled, it just looks like a pile of moldy wood."

Chloe got out of the car and turned around to look at the headlight coming out of the trees. Pogue slowed his bike to a roll and stopped. He took off his helmet and shook his hair out before walking over to them.

"We should get inside." Caleb said, "Reid will be hard enough to get out of the car when he sees my car here won't get out at all if we're standing here."

He held out his hand to Chloe and she took it, her fingers cold in his. He led her to the shack and pushed open the door the hinges squeaked in protest. Ducking his head he went inside and turned his gaze to the rock wall, he pushed a spot just below eye level and a section of the rock fell away to reveal an iron gate lit up by torchlight.

"How?" Chloe breathed and Caleb looked down at her wide eyed expression.

"Magic." She rolled her eyes at this reached out her own hand to push the wrought iron open. She glanced back at him uncertainly and he gestured for her to go on down. "Watch your step."

The light of the torches lit the way down into the book room.

"Geez, do you guys try to be creepy or does it just come naturally!" Chloe called up to them and Pogue smirked. "The candles really set the _mood_…"

When they got to the bottom he saw Chloe standing in the center of the room appreciatively eyeing the bookshelf. "May I?" She asked and Caleb nodded his permission.

She went over to the case and ran her finger over the spines of a few books before she pulled out one. "We don't have this one." Chloe commented, "Incredible, this is about my ancestor and her coven."

Caleb's brows lifted in surprise, "Really?" He went over to her to look over her shoulder at the book.

"Yeah, it details the five years before she was burnt at the stake." Chloe looked up at Caleb, "Can I borrow this?"

He looked up to Pogue for permission and the other man shrugged, "Yeah go ahead, I read it but it's been years. Must be where I recognized your name from."

"Must be, it probably doesn't mention the curse or you wouldn't have looked so shocked."

"What curse?" Pogue asked just when the grate clanged above them and he shot a glance at Pogue.

"Why the hell am I here?" Reid shouted as he stomped down the steps. When he got to the bottom and lifted his eyebrows and hands for an answer Chloe stepped forward.

She pushed her shoulders back and Caleb couldn't help but feel proud as she squared off in front of Reid. "I have a story you need to hear."

"You brought me out here for a bedtime story?" Reid scoffed but Caleb could hear the underlying wariness in his tone.

"Not exactly, sit." She gestured to all of them and they did as she asked sitting in their usual spots. She took the seat meant for the fifth son and looked at her hands. "I know most of you don't want to be here right now but what I have to say concerns all of you, you should get a say in what happens."

Caleb felt a jolt in his chest at her words and opened his moth to protest but she stopped him before he could speak. "They do Caleb."

"September 2nd 1962. A member of the Covenant by the name of John Putnam came as an incubus to a witch named Clarissa Richardson. He enchanted her and then raped her before escaping before she woke in the morning. Clarissa belonged to a strong coven of good witches, one of them was my ancestor Melinda Warren. My ancestor's coven knew about the Covenant and their powers, knew that the powers were used for personal gain more than the good of others." She looked at all of them evenly, "I don't know if you are aware, but there are laws to magic other than the ones that bind the Covenant. Good witches, which the members of the Covenant are supposed to be, are not allowed to use magic to hurt or enchant others and they cannot use magic for personal gain. These laws bind all good magic and when they are broken there are consequences. Sometimes the witch will go dark and other times the spells will backfire on them."

"John Putnam was no different, his history of raping women had turned him. The magic inside of him that was supposed to be used only for good had been used to harm. Melinda and her coven realized that due to the vast nature of your powers there was a great capacity for evil. After Clarissa was attacked the coven decided that the powers could no longer be left unchecked. So Melinda cast a spell. The spell was designed to lessen the amount of evil that could be done by these powers, your powers. The powers that from which evil could be created would be your undoing, until such time the curse could be lifted. This is the reason your powers age you, because many who have such power will abuse it. Yet this, the aging is only the beginning." Chloe paused to gauge their reactions. Caleb looked at her with respect before looking at the rest of the sons. Predictably Reid was angry, no he looked furious. Baby boy just looked stunned and Pogue was hard to read, he looked thoughtful but Caleb could sense the emotion welling inside him.

"Tell us the rest." Tyler said quietly and Chloe nodded.

She licked her lips and continued on. "My ancestor believed that a day would come when the world would be ready for powers such as yours to be released. She knew that in the future her line would produce three sisters, who together would become the greatest force of good magic the world has ever known and ever will know. The Charmed Ones. Within the curse she created a failsafe, that when the Charmed Ones had completed their destiny and destroyed the greatest evil, and the world would not be in danger from a potential force of evil, then the curse could be ended. But she had conditions, this curse could only end when a witch of her line and a son of the Covenant entered the world in the same instant." She looked over to Caleb, "Those two are Caleb and myself."

"So you're saying the curse is broken? We won't age?" Pogue asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

Chloe sighed and Caleb just wanted to hug her in this instant. "Not quite, the curse isn't broken not yet." She looked at her clasped hands for a moment before starting again. "Although Melinda set the curse so that if it was broken it would happen in a time that could handle a shift in the balance of good and evil she did not want any generations to come to have to face that threat. She wanted the witch to break her curse be so sure that the Covenant would once again become a force for good that she would be willing to bind herself forever to the Son that shared her time of birth. If the witch did not believe the Sons worthy of such unlimited power she would have to do nothing and then when the last son ascended the lines would be ended, permanently."

Reid narrowed his eyes and looked directly at Chloe, "What are you saying?"

Caleb took a deep breath and stood before Chloe could answer, "What she's saying is, that if she and I don't get married before Tyler ascends we will all die."

"So you're getting _married_?" Tyler asked in a voice so high it was almost a squeak.

He glanced over at Chloe and she stood, tugging her blue sweater around herself, "That's up to you four to decide. I've already discussed it with Caleb and I'm willing to do it so long as you promise me you'll follow the rules of good magic." She gestured towards the stairs, "I'll leave you alone to talk, Caleb I'll be in the car."

He nodded and she turned and went up the stairs, her footsteps echoing in the chamber. When she was gone Caleb sighed and half fell back into his seat. He rested his head in his hands and wished he could just go home.

"Well that was interesting." Reid commented sarcastically.

Tyler for once didn't follow Reid's lead, "Lay off Reid, this is huge." The youngest Son caught Caleb's eye. "You're going to do it right?"

Caleb let out a low chuckle. "Unless you have a reason I shouldn't"

"You don't have to do this Caleb." Pogue said softly.

Reid shot out of his seat, "The hell he doesn't, this curse will kill us all if he doesn't, and I for one plan on living a long time."

Caleb smiled, he should have expected something like that from Reid.

"Don't be selfish." Tyler reprimanded him, "I don't want to die either but marriage is a big deal."

The blonde boy scoffed, "No it isn't people get married and divorced all the time, what's such a big deal. He can marry her and then divorce her the next day."

"Did you happen to miss the forever part?" Pogue growled. "This is Caleb's decision not yours if he doesn't want to marry her he doesn't have to."

"But I do." Caleb told them, "I do have to do this, because if I don't I'll feel guilty every single day until Tyler turns eighteen. Besides I'm half in love with the girl anyways." Caleb joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

It didn't work, the other three sons were silent as they looked at him. Reid looked like he always did smug and confident, and Tyler who wore his heart on his sleeve looked at Caleb like his puppy just died. Pogue though, his face was closed off like he didn't want anyone to know what he was thinking, and Caleb was probably the only one in the world who could tell that Pogue was feeling guilty. It wasn't hard to guess why, Pogue had always been the one with a girlfriend and not girlfriends like Reid seemed to exchange everyday like bits of clothing. No Pogue loved, he loved Kate and the Covenant was a weight on his shoulders because he couldn't bear to tell Kate the truth, he didn't want to put her through the pain all their mothers had gone through. That's why he always acted like the jealous boyfriend, because since he could never be truly honest with the girl he loved he was always terrified someone normal would come along and snatch her away, taking with them the only normal thing in his life.

"So it's settled then." Caleb said standing back up, "I guess I better go and inform my new fiancé." Saying the word aloud threw him back a step, it felt strange to say the word in relation to himself and he was surprised by the spot of warmth in his chest when he'd said it. Fiancé, he thought, wow.

Reid grinned and clapped his hands together, "This is great, we don't have to worry about using our powers anymore!"

"Not so fast, there are rules we'll have to follow now." Caleb warned before Reid got ahead of himself.

"Pshh. So what!" Reid said as they all followed him up the stairs. Coming up last Tyler shut the gate and pushed the spot on the wall that had the rock coming together once more.

When Chloe saw them coming out of the shack she exited Caleb's mustang and tucked her hands in her pockets nervously like she was waiting for a guilty verdict. "Well?"

"Welcome to the family!" Reid crowed crossing the last few steps and swinging Chloe around in a hug. He set her down and Caleb noticed her glance at Reid was a little disturbed. Reid started to enthusiastically hum here comes the bride and Chloe turned red.

Feeling like he should make at least some of an effort to make this a little more normal Caleb went up to Chloe and took her hand, "So what do you say? Will you marry me?" He grinned down at her.

She half smiled and tilted her head, "I suppose." She said teasingly.

"Thank you." He said softly and she smiled not needing to say anything in response.

She then turned away from him to look at Tyler, "Hey baby boy! Please tell me you're just a really young senior and still 16."

The youngest son grinned, "You're in luck. I won't ascend until next October."

"Oh thank god!" Chloe laughed and the sons joined her. And in that moment Caleb thought, everything is going to be just fine.


	9. Chapter 9

Chloe sank into her seat at the start of her first class bright and early Monday morning. Still exhausted from the drama of the day before she slumped forward to rest her head on the desk. "Bad hangover?" Reid's to perky voice asked her.

"Screw you." She groaned, not even bothering to open her eyes.

"Aw what's the matter sis? No sleep last night, too busy sealing the deal?"

She blew air out of her nose in an angry hiss before lifting her head to glare at Reid, "Keep your voice down, and for your information yes I got no sleep last night and no there was no deal sealing." She made to rest her head back down but stopped to point a finger at Reid. "And don't call me sis."

Reid raised his hands in mock defense, "Woah, chill out crazy. Lighten up we're family now." He grinned and she could tell he was doing it just to rile her up.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah sure Reid. Just don't say anything when you're in public ok? The last thing I need is to have to explain this to a bunch of preppy teenagers."

The blonde boy smirked, "Whatever you say boss."

Chloe fought back a groan and glanced to her right grateful that Kate was too preoccupied with Pogue to have heard anything they said. Hearing a bag thump down on the bench to her left she turned to see who it was and smiled when she recognized Caleb.

"Hey." He smiled at her warmly, "Rough night?"

Chloe rubbed her eyes and sat up to lean back into her seat, "Hey, yeah I had nightmares."

Her new fiancé frowned sympathetically, "What about?"

"Spiders." Chloe sighed, "Pretty weird actually, I don't like spiders but I'm not afraid of them."

Caleb's face was serious, "When you say spiders do you mean like monster movie spiders or...?"

Confused as to why he was asking she shook her head, "No just run of the mill creepy spiders, but in my dreams there are hundreds of them crawling all over me, one even went up Kate's nose." She shivered in disgust, "I can never look at a spider the same way again."

Caleb's face went still and she touched his arm, "What is it?" she asked in genuine concern.

He opened his mouth to respond when the professor came through the door and started to address the class, Caleb glanced at her and said, "I'm not sure, we'll talk about it later."

She nodded her head in acceptance and opened her bag to pull out her book and supplies, settling in for a class she really wasn't in the mood for.

Chloe didn't get the chance to talk to Caleb after class since he was called up to the Provost's office. She didn't have him in any of her other classes that day so she spent the rest of the school day trying to stay awake. Kate had to prod her with her pen a couple of times to keep her from drifting off. "What is up with you today?" Kate asked her when they were walking back to the dorms.

"I'm sorry." Chloe said in a tone that bordered on whiny. "I didn't get in until late and then I slept horrible, I was having nightmares."

Kate made a face, "That sucks." She said and a moment later her eyes lit up, "Speaking of coming in late! What happened with you and Caleb last night?"

Chloe blushed and thought, besides the fact that we're  
engaged now? "Nothing, when we left Nicky's we went to get gas and we ended up sitting there in the parking lot for a couple of hours just talking." It was a pretty lame lie and she knew it, but she hadn't thought to think of an excuse to give Kate.

"Uh huh. Sure" Kate grinned suggestively.

"What!" Chloe practically yelped, "Nothing happened."

Kate gave her a very disbelieving look, "No one just talks!"

"Well we did," Chloe told her, which was actually kind of true, it just wasn't only her and Caleb doing the talking. "It was nice, he drove me back to the dorms, kissed me goodnight and that was it."

"Ok, I'll believe you, for now." Kate warned, "But I'm getting this story out of you some day."

"I'm sure you will." Chloe said to herself, low enough the Kate couldn't hear her over the wind. They trudged up the steps into their building and made their way to their floor. After Kate unlocked the door Chloe practically flew onto her bed. "Goodnight!" She chirped and Kate laughed.

Chloe pulled herself up and put her things onto her desk and took off all her outerwear. She changed out of her school uniform and into one of her many loose cut t-shirts and sleep pants. "Seriously," She told Kate, "I'm taking a nap."

"Ok." Kate said with a half smile, "Have a good one."

"I will," She moaned into her pillow and she was out.


End file.
